


bear away

by itsmylifekay



Series: i'd be your anchor but i'm scared you'd drown [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Winter Soldier Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-26
Packaged: 2018-02-10 13:38:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2027097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmylifekay/pseuds/itsmylifekay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky craned to look over his shoulder, eyes going wide with what he saw. He didn’t know whether to scream or cry.</p>
<p>Steve was tiny again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	bear away

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to shinigami24 for the idea!
> 
> hope you enjoy!

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Bucky was frantic. His heart was pounding and his hands were shaking and with every step he took he had to fight off the urge to double over and vomit. Because Steve was missing. And Bucky had looked _everywhere._

He’d been everywhere he could get to in the palace, getting lost and turned around to the point of frustration. He’d sprinted out to the bifrost to see if Steve had gone to look at the stars with Heimdall. He’d gone to the kitchens just in case, by some miracle, Steve had decided he wanted to eat something. The armory, the balconies, their room, the rooms of the other Avengers who’d stayed behind… he’d looked _everywhere._

It had been nearly half a day and still no sign of Steve. And considering the fragile state of mind the other man had been in for the past month, Bucky couldn’t help but image the worst.

Desperate and without any other ideas, he finally went to Thor’s rooms, an area technically off limits to the public but this was an emergency and he _was_ an Avenger so…he’d throw his weight around if he had to. The ornate doors were firmly closed when he reached them but he didn’t let them stop him. The booming of the knocker echoed in the stone halls and moments later Thor’s voice echoed back, “Who hails?”

“It’s Bucky…” He pressed his hand to the intricately carved surface in front of him. “Have you seen Steve?”

There was a drawn out pause, no sound coming from the room at all, and Bucky began to worry he’d done something wrong. Hell, manners weren’t his strong suit back on Earth, let alone whatever customs they had in Asgard. But then footsteps were coming up to the other side of the doors and he stepped back just in time to have them swing open.

“Bucky,” Thor said, voice regal and booming as always. “Come in, friend.” He stepped back so Bucky could enter then quickly shut the doors behind them.

Bucky eyed him warily, noting Thor’s usual smile wasn’t quite reaching his eyes. It made him on edge. “Where’s Steve?”

Thor opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the gentle clearing of someone’s throat followed by a soft, “Hey, Buck.”

Thor turned his head and Bucky craned to look over his shoulder, eyes going wide with what he saw. He didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

Steve was tiny again.

All Bucky could think was _what happened?_ If Steve had reverted back, tried to escape, or hurt someone, Thor would’ve had every right to change Steve back again. But god, just the thought alone made Bucky want to punch something. They’d gotten so far, and to just have it all slip away? It hurt too much.

But then he forced himself to take a breath, to calm down and actually look at the situation. Steve was standing on his own two feet, wasn’t restrained in any way, and seemed to have the same look on his face he’d get back in Brooklyn when he’d gone ahead and spent a little extra on food because Bucky’d had a longer shift at the docks. In other words, stubborn as hell but still looking to Bucky for reassurance, to tell him he had made the right choice. Because in the end that’s all Steve ever wanted, was to make the right choices.

But that didn’t make any sense. Because why would Steve have that look on his face unless he had chosen to- His eyes snapped to Thor and he took in the other man’s expression with a new perspective.

“Well, fuck _._ ” He breathed.

Steve tensed across the room and folded his one arm across his chest, clasping his empty sleeve tightly in hand.

Bucky felt like someone had taken the breath from his lungs. “Steve,” he called softly. “Steve, c’mere.” He held open his arms and offered a crooked smile when Steve finally met his eyes. “Gonna make me stand here all day, punk?”

Steve slowly closed the distance between them and rested his forehead against Bucky’s shoulder, mumbling a quiet ‘ _jerk’_ into the fabric there.

Something in Bucky’s chest loosened and he wound his arms around Steve’s small waist. “So,” he started, mouth pressed into the side of Steve’s head. “You wanted to be small again, huh?”

“Just wanted to be _me_ ,” Steve’s voice threatened to break and Bucky shushed him gently, pulling him tighter to his chest.

“And that’s all you ever have to be, Stevie. That’s already more than enough.”

It was the cruelest sort of fate that it took so much for Steve to realize what Bucky had been trying to convince him of for years. And honestly, Bucky wasn’t positive Steve truly _had_ realized. It was more likely that Steve just saw his smaller self as the lesser of two evils.

He noticed belatedly that Thor had left the room and wondered just how much the other had heard before stepping out- knowing the bounds of Asgardian chivalry, it probably hadn’t been much. Either way, it made him much more comfortable with slipping his hands beneath Steve’s shirt and tracing over sharp hip bones with the pads of his thumbs. Steve huffed into his neck.

They just stood like that for a few minutes, Steve leaning against Bucky’s chest with Bucky curled over him protectively, sheltering him from the outside world as much as he could in that moment. And maybe that was part of Steve’s motivation, the fact that Bucky could do those kinds of things again, could cover Steve completely and keep him safe in his arms. He could depend on Bucky again, just like when they lived together in Brooklyn. Bucky could pull him out of fights and take care of him when he was sick and reach things on the top shelf…

Suddenly, Steve’s decision was making a lot more sense.

Bucky inhaled deeply then leaned back, keeping a firm hold on Steve’s hips just in case he thought Bucky was trying to move away. But Steve just blinked up at him with a little wrinkle between his brows. The same wrinkle Bucky would get his hand slapped for when he’d try to smooth it away.

“Wanna go back to our room?” He finally asked.

“Sure, Buck.” Steve voice was soft as he stepped back and began rubbing at his shoulder again, startling slightly when Bucky came up beside him and threw an arm over his shoulders, replacing Steve’s hand with his own. “Buck, you don’t have to-”

“How many times do I have to say it, pal?” Bucky interrupted. “Just because I don’t _have_ to do something, doesn’t mean I don’t _want_ to. Besides, you’re the perfect height for an arm rest.” He grinned down at Steve who just rolled his eyes, but since his arm wasn’t shrugged off he considered it a victory. “We’re gonna have to get you some different clothes too, aren’t we?”

Steve pulled at his shirt a bit. The fabric was loose and the hem down to the middle of his thighs. His pants were just barely clinging to his hips. “Guess so,” Steve muttered. “Hate to waste money on that, though.”

“It’s not wasteful if you need it.” Bucky argued. But Steve still had a guilty look on his face so Bucky softened his voice and carefully explained, “Money isn’t so tight anymore, Stevie. I got plenty saved up in the bank. A few pairs of pants and some shirts isn’t hardly gonna make a dent.”

Their walk was silent for a few minutes as Steve considered the offer. Then, finally, he murmured, “I don’t want to ask Thor for new ones. But if we go back-”

“ _When_ we go back.”

Steve shot him a look. “ _If_ we go back, we’ll see about buying some new pants then.”

Bucky sighed, letting the argument drop as they neared their room. Because for the rest of the day, the only thing he wanted Steve to worry about was getting tucked into bed safe against Bucky’s side. They could worry about the future later.

(And as it turned out, Steve didn’t have to ask Thor for clothes at all. When they woke up the next morning a box of new shirts and pants was already waiting just outside their door.)

 

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**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it^^
> 
> i'm on [tumblr](itsmylifekay.tumblr.com) as well


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